Avraham is the chariot (Channel) to the sefirah of Chessed (loving, kindness). Chessed is the first revelation of the Light in this world. The Zohar explains in Genesis 2:4 " אֵלֶּה תוֹלְדוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ, בְּ הִ בָּרְאָם " that the word " בְּ הִ בָּרְאָם " which means "when they were created" has the same letters as " בְאַבְרָהָם ". The world was created with Chessed and by the merit of Avraham.

What makes Avraham so special? We can find one of the reasons in the above verse from Genesis 22:2. When G-d "Tested" Avraham he instructed him to take his son to the land of Moriah and offer him there on one of the mountains. We all know the story. Some ten years ago I heard a taped lecture by Rabbi Yitzchak Ginzburg and he refers to this verse as a dialog between G-d and Avraham.

G-d: Take your son!
Avraham: Which one?
God: Your only son.
Avraham: I have two sons.
G-d: The one that you loved.
Avraham: I love them both.
G-d: Isaac.

This interesting conversation teaches us that Avraham had built in him unconditional love. He treated everyone equally, he was known also as a great host. Everyone was welcome in his home.

Ishmael was his son from his wife\’s servant, yet he treated him as equal.

Because he was able to accept the light of the creator unconditionally and share it with everyone, he merited to be the chariot to the sefirah of Chessed. He is the one that opens the gate of prayers for us. All major prayers begin with Avraham, Isaac and Jacob. They are the three lead chariots of the Light to this world and Avraham is leading.

To open the upper gates for the Light to flow into our lives, we need to be like Avraham, practicing unconditional love and sharing.

One of the great lessons I learned from the Zohar is related to Avraham and it gives us understanding and power to have the unconditional love. The Zohar tells us that Terach, Avraham\’s father, was a negative person and idol worshiper. His son established a connection to the light to flow down to our world. If we were to think that the world would\’ve been a better place without him then we are wrong. We never know what would come out of a person. We should never think about killing someone, but send them love and light.

A change or transformation comes with light, not darkness. Terach changed himself, left idol worshiping, turned to be a positive and loving person shortly after Avraham was born.

We find more of such an example in this parasha with the story of Lot and his daughters. We read about Avraham coming to save his brother, Lot , from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorra. After Lot left Sodom and find refuge in a cave, the older daughter made her father drunk and had sexual connection with him (Genesis 19:33 ). From this connection we have the seed of Mashiach and the final redemption. (The son was Moav…Ruth… David…)

There is a special dot above letter " וּ " of the word " וּבְקוּמָהּ ". The four letters " קוּמָה " is the same as " מקוה ", Mikveh, which is a special water pool that cleanses spiritually. " ו " is the letter that channels the Light to the world. The dot puts this particular one on a higher level.

This word is also related to the time when G-d will rise to remove all negativity from the world. " קוּמָה יְ ק וָ ק , וְיָפֻצוּ אֹיְבֶיךָ, וְיָנֻסוּ מְשַׂנְאֶיךָ, מִפָּנֶיךָ " (Numbers 10:35 ).

You may think that Lot \’s daughter made a terrible act but the result was not so. Rav Shraga Berg, commented on that and said that the older daughter saw the destruction of Sodom and Gomorra as the destruction of the whole world. Her mother had turned to stone earlier and she believed that with her action she will save the world by creating continuation. That consciousness merited her to have a son that from his seed, Mashiach will come. Let us hope it will be today, Amen.